Hollyoaks and Coronation Street star Adam Rickitt "hated" his pop career
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Hollyoaks and Coronation Street actor Adam Rickitt has revealed that he "hated" his pop career, saying that he felt at the time that he had made "a mistake" in entering the industry.
The actor played Corrie's Nick Tilsley between 1997 and 1999 and again between 2002 and 2004, after which the role was taken over by current Nick star Ben Price. Adam then took on the role of Hollyoaks' Kyle Kelly, appearing in the soap between 2017 and 2020.
In between acting stints, he pursued a career in pop music and released an album, Good Times, in 1999, before dropping out of a planned six-album deal and returning to acting.
Related: Hollyoaks' Jessica Fox defends decision to announce Kyle Kelly's exit
Speaking to Soap From The Box podcast as part of its support of Mental Health Awareness Week, the actor revealed that there were a number of aspects of his music career that made him feel uncomfortable, including the fact that he was told when he could cut his hair and what he should wear.
"Back in my day it was all about single sales and album sales, that's how the record companies made their money," he said. "I did it for two years and I sang live once. Not because I didn't want to but all they cared about was you doing press.
"There was this whole system in place where, when you were releasing a single, you did photoshoots for a month, because that took the longest to get into print. Then you did a month of radio interviews and then you did a month of TV interviews.
"And you just literally did this circus each time and, you know, bless the journalists and the TV shows and whatever, they couldn't be bothered who you were... So I spent a year answering the same questions."
Related: Adam Rickitt opens up about his 17-year battle with depression
Speaking about how he tried to get released from his contract early, the actor said that his situation became more complicated when his album became a huge success in South East Asia.
"I signed a six album deal which was worth a fortune and before the first single even came out I said, 'Look, I've made a mistake, I'm sorry. I want out. This is not me. I hate it.' And they were very good about it – they kind of said, 'Look, we've invested a lot of money in you recording your album. Could you release the album so we make back our money and then we'll release you from the contract?'
"I said, 'Brilliant, thank you'. So I worked like a dog to make the album do well enough to make them back their money and get released, when suddenly they decided to release (the album) in South East Asia...
"It went like platinum in South East Asia so suddenly they didn't want to release me. It kind of got a bit tricky at times... thankfully lawyers stepped in and I managed to get out of it."
Related: Adam Rickitt opens up about infertility
Adam also revealed that he became good friends with his regular backing dancers, only for him to get a call one day telling him that they were being replaced because he was "too close" to them.
He added that the lack of communication such as social media at the time meant that he worried about not being able to represent himself in the public eye, saying that the press "could just write anything they wanted about you" and that he "used to literally live in fear of [being] in the tabloids".
The actor also spoke about his own mental health during the interview, as well as his hard-hitting Hollyoaks storyline which saw Kyle take his own life.
Watch: Shaun Ryder reveals how he felt about living with "a load of lovies" in the jungle
We would encourage anyone who identifies with the topics raised in this article to reach out. Organisations who can offer support include Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org) or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to visit mentalhealth.gov.
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